Learn How to Set Up a Learning Community
Your invitation to a live webinar on Wednesday 2nd August
Have you ever been inspired to set up your own learning community outside of what you've seen in mainstream schools?
This is the second in our webinar series that gives you a chance to ask an expert who’s been there and done it!
Come and meet Kate Coleman, who co-founded the democratic, self-directed community, East Kent Sudbury (EKS) in 2019.
Kate started looking into alternatives to conventional schooling when the mainstream environment became detrimental to her son’s mental health and wellbeing. She had always been politically active and believes in democracy wholeheartedly, so after reading Peter Gray’s ‘Free to Learn’, Kate knew immediately that a Sudbury model school was what she wanted for her own children and what she wanted to help bring to the UK.
EKS is a part-time, democratic community for home educated young people aged from 5 to18 years, inspired by Sudbury Valley School in the US. They are part of the global democratic education movement and there are now over 35 Sudbury schools around the world.
In describing their setting, the EKS founders say:
“It is an education for today and for the future. We recognise that in today’s world it is not an ability to follow orders but to take charge of your own life that is vital for success. We believe the best way to practise making real decisions and taking responsibility for your actions is to do it from the start.
By being self-directed, children are in charge of their own education, their preparation for their future Democratic governance gives students a share in the responsibility for maintaining the community they are a part of, empowering them to enact change and to think beyond their own self-interests.”
Join the Webinar
The session will be an open Q&A with a chance to create some next steps if you want to take your learning community idea further. It will be facilitated by Limitless podcast host, Alex O’Neill.
You can find out about other webinars in this series on the Progressive Education website.
Hope to see you there!